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As shown in the title, my bag is averagely average. There is nothing too crazy in there, but it does get extremely heavy. When I carry it throughout campus, I think to myself that I am helping my core, but I really do not think that much progress has been made. Starting from the top, there is the bag itself. When school shopping, I chose a grey backpack as to not contrast my outfits. I thought that grey pretty much goes with anything and I stand by that. I didn’t want to stand out too much, adding to the averagely average vibe. On the bag are two Pokemon pins and a Pokemon key chain. I added these small trinkets as a means to start conversation. Nerds in the video game community try not to out themselves, and these trinkets might encourage someone to talk about gaming without me having to expose myself. Surprisingly, this plan has worked extremely well, and I have gotten many compliments. My physics lab binder is to the left of my backpack. I placed it front and center because physics lab is my favorite class. The Best We Could Do is next to the binder solely for organizational purposes. The calculator might be the least average item in my bag. The pink color really contrasts the vibe my bag gives off; it was my sisters in high school. I have grown to love it, and it has also received a lot of compliments. Next are my notebooks- the first one is my green physics notebook (green keeping the theme). The red notebook are my notes for my class on comics (this class). I chose red because English courses always seemed like a ‘red’ or ‘yellow’ class but the Barnes and Noble didn’t have any yellow notebooks. The black notebook is my Econ notebook; I chose black because I always think of black suits when I think of Economics. Last but not least is my blue math notebook. In my mind, blue has always been the color associated with math. Below are my folders. I only have three folders because not that many of my classes give individual papers. The red and blue folders are color correspondents with their respective notebooks, but I had to buy a white folder for physics because Barnes and Noble did not have green. In between my folders are my scattered pens and pencils. I came to college with one pencil and have grown my arsenal throughout the semester by finding spares on the floor. In high school, I was the guy who never had a pencil going into class, but I have always had one at the ready in college. Under my folders is my dongle. Honestly, I still haven’t used it, but I have a sneaky suspicion that it will come in handy in the future. In the bottom right is my Econ textbook; I really hate Econ. Honestly, I still haven’t opened that textbook yet and the midterm is Monday, October 21st. In the middle is my PACE book. I personally think that PACE is super useless and I always forget to do the surveys. Last and least is health. Health is my least favorite class because the entire thing is just memorization. I stayed up way too late for many nights studying the test, and I still probably did poorly on it. I thought it was super ironic how the class preaches getting sleep, but I essentially had to stay up late because I am really bad at memorizing things.

Is representing yourself in a catalog of the stuff in your bag a type of writing? Why or why not?

This image is not really representative of me as a person from at outside perspective, but it really does describe me. I try and give off the image of an extreme extrovert who doesn’t care about what other people think. While I am still an extrovert, I care immensely about what others think, and carefully craft each conversation I have to show a better me. I know it sounds very fake, but it is actually something that I am very proud of. Verbal communication is my best skill, and I am not afraid to use it to my advantage (that sounded evil but I am not- I promise). My communication strategies can be seen through the trinkets on my backpack and my dongle. The trinkets on my backpack show how I try and start certain conversations and the dongle is also there as a backup. If anyone needs one (which many people do), I have one just in case. While making the image itself, I tried to be as organizational as possible; this hopefully made it visually pleasing. This assignment was surprisingly not challenging at all. I thought that the description would be very difficult and I would have to make some lame parallels to my life, but that was not the case. The connections came easily to me, and I had a lot of fun. Representing myself in a catalog was a type of writing because it gave a new and unique outlet to describe myself. Normally, people show things about themselves through their actions but this was totally different.

Here is a link to the assignment prompt!

• Solo New York Backpack- I chose this backpack because it has a lot of storage space and I can use it in 3 different ways: as a suitcase, an over the shoulder bag, and a regular backpack.
• HP Envy X360 Laptop– I needed a laptop for college and so I saved up my money from my summer job to get it.
• Chem150L Notebook– I have chemistry lab on Wednesday, but I kept it in this long because I like to work on my post lab assessments throughout the course of the week.
• TI-84 Plus CE Calculator– I usually have to do calculations for my chemistry and math courses, so a calculator is an efficient way to do all of the math involved.
• 3 Subject Notebook– Instead of having to purchase individual spirals and folders, I decided to invest in a 5 star 3 subject notebook for convenience and space usage. It has pockets which act like folders and paper which is sectioned off into 3 parts.
• Health Textbook- I was studying for my Health quiz and completely forgotten to take it out after I had finished the class for the week.
• Blistex– I don’t want to have chapped lips now that the weather is changing and so I decided to purchase some chap-stick to prevent that from occurring.
• Water, Nature Valley Bar, and utensils– I usually have to get a quick breakfast in before class so the water and granola bars are a go-to staple, and the utensils are for when I have to take my lunch on the go before I have to get to work at 2 P.M.
• Phone Portable Charger– Sometimes when I have been on my phone for too long I like to use my portable charger so that I am able to stay connected to the web longer.

I feel like this photograph is very representative of me because I like to have supplies for convenience more than having them to show their value. They are also indicative of my constant on the go mindset, where any chance I can to do work or do something productive I will. I chose to put the things that had more usage for me on the forefront of the photo while the things I used least often towards the back. This assignment felt by far the easiest that we have had so far because I only had to explain the reasons for having certain items in my backpack. Yes, representing myself through the items in my bag is a type of personal writing because I get to reflect on why it is I need something and how it will aid me in my daily endeavors.
Link Back to the assignment Prompt: https://eng181f19.davidmorgen.org/assignments/sketches/sketch-6-whats-in-your-bag/

• Ibuprofen – which I took 20 capsules in the past weekend.
• CeraVe face wash – a useful remnant of my consecutive couch surfing/sleepovers from the past week.
• 5 foot iPhone Charger – an object made virtually obsolete by the lack of LTE available in the wilderness
• Tube of hydrocortisone – in case any mosquitoes mistake my presence for a dinner invite.
• Black Crew Socks – a useless remnants of jazz III class supplies.
• Wallet – silk, shiny, completely adorable al for only 20 dollars!
• Sunglasses and Case – I think these were 10 dollars at UAL. Total steal.
• Organic Lip Balm – one of the few non-homemade lip balms I own.
• MILK MAKEUP KUSH High Volume Mascara – because I got it like that
• Too Faced Foundation and Concealer – because being in nature doesn’t mean going all natural.. feel me?
• Journal, Pencil, and Pen – tools for reflection and documenting my time.
• AirPods – just in case things get dull on the road on in the cabin.
• Shea Moisture Balancing Moisturizer – because I was not about to let that woodsy air dry my skin out
• Hair Gel, Eyebrow, and Edge Brush – to keep it LAID.
• 2 Scrunchies – adding a lil POP of color to any outfit.
• Rose-scented body spray – to keep it fresh in the forest. I thought it would help me integrate myself into nature into nature more by smelling like it. I don’t think I was totally wrong about that.
• Shea Moisture Braid Oil – to keep my hair so fresh and so clean.
• Water Bottle – gets me compliments/keeps me hydrated.
• Umbrella – because I don’t take chances with rain.

My typical purse for this week was packed for quite atypical adventures. From couch surfing through about three different dorms to a weekend wilderness retreat, I’ve done many things I’ve never done before this week, and my bag stocked full of daily necessities and a couple toiletries reflects that. The contents of my purse showcase more utilities related to caring for my outsides than my insides. I don’t usually carry around this much makeup with me (just mascara if I have a long day ahead of me) but with all the time I spent not sleeping in my own dorm my purse doubled as my toiletries this week. That being said, I still do think this picture represents a lot about me. The only thing that would complete it would be more stickers and Hot Tamales as I consider those items to be absolutely essential to my person (If I go ONE WEEK without my Hot Tamales fix my internal organs start to shut down). I loved the assignment this week. The hardest part was trying to make the picture as aesthetically pleasing as the ones you see on Pinterest. I didn’t accomplish that goal but I feel I came reasonably close. As for an autobiographical work, listing items with description does count as “writing”.

The extent of actual school work in my bag is a math notebook and book for class. Everything else is very random but practical at the same time. For my electronics, I have chargers, dongles and my AirPods. I also have a lot of vaseline because my lips get very chapped. I am also prone to frequent headaches which explains the travel packets of Advil. Finally, for some bizarre reason, I have a little travel kit with nail clippers, scissors, and some pliers.

This Sunday sketch is only our second sketch about self reflection, the other one being the avatar, however I found really helpful. With the avatar post I had to think about how to represent myself and then make something. However with this post, the stuff that represents me was already there, and all I had to do was dump it out onto the floor. That’s why, I think this photo above, of the contents of my backpack really does justice as a self reflective post. Mainly because I think it shows the type of person I am. I like to think that I am very organized and I try to always have “essential” items on me at all times. For example for this backpack, the first pocket is for medical stuff like Advil, tissues, and vaseline. Then the second pocket is all technology and chargers. And the last two pockets are for books and school work. This Sunday sketch was also a lot of fun, becasue it was cool to see my classmates bags and what they have with them all the time. Although we have been in school now for over a month, I still don’t know everyone that well, and this gave me a better insight into who they are.

My backpack includes:

• Coral Umbrella
• Chemistry Lab Manual
• Safety Goggles
• Pink Planner
• Pen/Pencil Holder (including the pens and pencils in it)
• Laptop
• The Great Pianist (for my seminar)
• The Best We Could Do (for english)
• Folders (Chemistry and QTM)
• Health Book

The inside of my backpack is pretty simple. Most of that is from back problems and a class that is super far. But even then, I have the most important things in my bag. Even when I only have some classes one day a week, like Chemistry lab, I still keep the manual and classes in my bag at all times. I am really bad with keeping up with things so I make things easier on myself by always keeping something in the same place. I think this assignment has been the best assignment because I think it really shows who we are. Also I think you can always tell a persons headspace by their level of organization. Clutter means a cluttered mind and organized means an easygoing and peaceful mind. Thats another reason I keep my bag simple. College is a stressful place but I’m more focused on keeping my peace of mind.

• MacBook Pro (bought specifically for film editing… also some schoolwork)
• Beats Headphones (that came with MacBook Pro)
• Side Converter for Macbook Pro
• Cord to connect SSD to computer for film editing (usually I’d have my SSD but I didn’t take it over fall break)
• Random power brick
• Earbuds that I barely use because I already have Beats
• 4 mechanical pencils (cause why not)
• 2 Red/3 Black Pilot G-2 07 pens (I have done all the testing and confirmed that these are the best pens to use… I literally have a pile of 20 of them in my desk drawer)
• A spoon (not normally there but it was when I took this pic)
• Deodorant (cause duh)
• The Best We Could Do (cause I gotta do some work over fall break)
• My Netflix water bottle (this is actually one of my most prized possessions. I have been using this water bottle for years and I love it with all my heart)
• My Astrobiology class notebook (cause I have it right after English)
• Black Backpack (that I’ve been using for the past 3 years… I was just too lazy to get one for college)

Not to sound cliché, but a backpack really does tell a lot about someone. Usually my backpack would also have two SSD’s which I always carry because they have my film footage that I’m constantly editing, but over break I purposely left those at Emory so I could focus on other work/chilling. I did do a bit of cheating to take out some things that are only there because I have to take all of my work with me to fall break, but for some reason I felt the need to include a spoon, despite the fact that this is the first time I’ve ever had a spoon in my backpack. It’s funny and quirky so I thought I might as well leave it in there. I think that typing that catalog of my backpack’s contents is most definitely a form of writing, but I also think that every time you write something it’s a form of writing, it just might not be as “poetic” or “artistic” as other forms. With the personal quippy prompting for this particular list I can get a feel for other’s personality and there is a lot of artistic freedom to do what you want with the assignment. So I would say this is a more narrative building form of writing than one might initially think.

This assignment did make me think. I have been very particular about what I put in my backpack and over the years it has evolved. From types of books to types of pencils. I do, however, keep the same stuff in the same zipper pockets –to the point where I can blindly find any type of object if it’s in my backpack. Everything has a place. Now I just wonder what my backpack will look like in 10 years…

Back to Prompt!

CONTENTS

Jansport Hatchet BackPack: This backpack was selected for its unique style and functionality. Like the rest of my daily carry, each piece is essential and intentional.

MacBook Air: While this laptop is the source of all my work and productivity in college, it is also the source of all my frustration when WordPress decides to crash.

Dot & Weekly Planner: Disregarding the fact that I have to use two different planners to make sure my life doesn’t fall apart at Emory, the system I’ve developed for keeping track of everything has been fairly successful.

3 Subject NoteBook: I use this notebook to take notes for the three classes that decide to ban technology.

Beats/AirPods: Some days require a low-key drizzle, those are AirPod days. Other days require a moderate drip, those days are for Beats. Most days my friends talk so loud I have to use both at the same time.

Hydro Flask: Housing the contents of Emory’s weirdly tasting fountain water

PowerBank: I charge this thing more than It charges everything else…

Pencil Pouch: I always put my writing utensils back in here and yet somehow every time I open the pouch, there seems to be less every time.

This sketch has been my favorite assignment thus far, I often see a lot of YouTubers creating videos about their bags and when deciding what I wanted to carry in college I watched a lot of these videos. I also think this self-portrait is fairly representative of myself. Each item has a certain color way that I find pleasing to the eye. Black is one of my favorite colors because its very cool and low-key and I believe that’s how I am as well. However, black can be boring and basic so I like to give it some depth with camouflage. The mot challenging aspect of this assignment was actually taking the picture. For some reason I ended up taking the picture on the pool table in the south tower of the Student Center and I definitely got a lot of side glances when people saw me unloading my entire backpack in the middle of everyone.

I think that the catalog of my stuff is a form of writing because it accomplishes the same purpose of writing. Writing literature is all about allowing people to understand the author’s inner thoughts, just like an inside look of my bag.